Saturday, 29 November 2008

Fidelis is the best speculative fiction I have read since the early 80's. Reminiscent of Heinlein's writings with the skills of a master wordsmith, A.R. Horvath has created an amazing world and looks to a possible future that is dark and brooding. He creates a world in which the United States has entered a second dark ages after a military defeat. The writing is superb, the characters believable and engaging. As you read you become transported into the events by Horvath's skill with the pen for he draws you in and captivates you. His storytelling is masterful.We follow Fides as he goes from being a young man trying to look after his family and working as a skilled laborer to being a warrior serving a cause greater than any he could have imagined. As he journeys across the remnants of America he journeys into a faith he never dreamed of nor wanted. The book deals with big questions: faith, doubt, manhood, integrity, purpose in life, bravery and above all else, truth. It does so in a futuristic setting, however is written in such a way that the characters as they struggle with these issues seem to be real, not just a story for entertainment but a story to help us learn to ask the right questions in life.This book has been compared to Stephen King's The Dark Tower, or as a cross between it and the Left Behind books by LeHaye and Jenkins. However, to me it is more similar to C.S. Lewis's The Dark Tower or a darker version of Lewis's space trilogy. It also reads much like James Axler's Deathlands yet with more depth. Reading Horvath is like reading science fiction by Asimov, Bester or Heinlein, with the narrative power and creativity of C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien. It also contains strong military themes like those found in Piers Anthony's Bio of a Space Tyrant, Orson Scott Card's Ender Series or Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan books. This book is an amazing work of fiction. Both the writing style, and story itself will captivate and enthrall. This book is moving to my all time favorites list and it will take something pretty awesome to knock it down a notch on that list. So pick up the book and join Fides on his journey, both across a continent and into faith, and you too may be challenged to look inside and find the strength to struggle with faith and to ask yourself the tough questions. I for one eagerly anticipate the rest of the books to come in this new series.

(Note: a review of book 2 soon to follow.)

Books by A.R. Horvath:Birthpangs SeriesFidelisSperoThe Annals of Myrtle and the Blood King SeriesThe Warden-WatchBooks as Anthony Horvath:Chronos and Old FactsThe Golden Rule of Epistemology and other essaysWe Choose LifePolite Company and Other StoriesThe Knight in Black TuzedoMordecai's DilemmaFor No Reason at AllRoots and FruitsSUperfanAuthor Profile and Interview with Anthony Horvath

Friday, 28 November 2008

Over the next few weeks I plan on writing a series of articles about computers. These will be written from the perspective of an IT Professional who constantly receives requests for help from friends and family. What I hope to do is outline and provide ideas for some tools, tricks and tips that will help users keep their machines clean and healthy and functioning better. Some of these tools I have been using for years and some are new to me through working in the field or through friends and colleagues. In this piece I will take a quick look at a number of tools, then over the next couple of weeks write a more in-depth step- by- step piece on each of these.

Part of how I see my role in IT is to help educate end-users so that they can do as much as they can for themselves. To that end, when I am working on someone's machine I explain what I am doing and why. This series will aim to help computer users learn from these experiences. Most of these software programs have a free trial version or scaled-down version for home/personal use but also have a more advanced version you can use buy if you want the extra features.

First and foremost it is important to have good virus software and to keep it up to date. Most software on the market will automatically update and let you know if it has not. AVG is great software and I have been using it for years. Once I was a huge Norton fan but it became more expensive to upgrade/renew each year than to buy a new version but for older machines the new version often took too many resources. AVG has always had a free home-use version; it is good software that runs efficiently without eating your system resources. The free version is good, the full version is great. AVG also has the ability to scan from a menu - you can right click an item or file you downloaded and scan it before opening it.

This utility you can run for free but will have to buy eventually. It is fantastic. It will clean up stuff you are not even aware of. The system registry on a Windows-based machine is what allows the hardware and software to work together. This is a document that almost every program you install writes to. What Regcure does is remove the stuff not needed such as lost paths, empty registry fields, uninstalled program stuff and more. I know IT guys who run this every day to keep their machine running faster. Now on a side note, you will almost never get zero entries in this software. Because the registry is dynamic and always being written to, it will almost always find a few items to remove.

AdAware and A-Squared are both very similar but do their jobs in a different way. They check for tracking cookies, malware and spyware. Both have free versions and are easy to install, update and use. I usually load both updates and set both to run, then walk away from the computer, go have supper and when I get back both scans are done and my machine is healthier. I always run a deep scan - it takes longer but checks everything on your computer not just the common items. AdAware has a paid version but it uses more system resources and runs all the time in the background. A-Squared has a nice function of being able to scan from the menu, so you can right click an item and scan with A-Squared to check it before opening or installing.

This program has come to be invaluable. It will remove almost any virus we have encountered either at work or on systems for friends or family. It is free to download and try and you can pay to upgrade to a pro version. Tip for this one is to update it twice after you install it. The first time it updates the software, the second the definitions it uses to scan. Malwarebytes has removed the UPS Virus, the XP Antivirus 2008/09, Antivirus Vundoo and many others. This is an excellent product. If by chance you exposed your system or know it is infected, this is the tool for you.

This little application is a fantastic utility. I use it daily at work and at home. I use it most to edit posts for my blog. I compose in MSWord, to be able to use spell check and grammar check, but if you cut and paste from Word you end up with all kinds of extraneous MS code in the paste. It can also be used for checking HTML, XML and CSS files. It is small, quick and extremely efficient. It's like Notepad on steroids, yet uses hardly any resources or space on the hard drive. I have barely tapped into the features of this utility in the 2 years I have been using it, but have recommended it to a few people who all rave about it.

Over the last year as I have become more mobile, I have come to find this to be an awesome tool. One reason is that Gmail now supports checking other email accounts and even sending from them. I have GMail configured to send from 8 accounts and it receives the messages from them also. iGoogle is a customizable webpage with gadgets galore to add to it. You can have your Gmail, news feeds, even Google calendar and many, many more. You can currently choose between the classic tabbed view or a sidebar navigation. I have moved to using this almost exclusively for mail and scheduling. Plus I have all my news and sports feeds on one tab and then a separate tab for using the Google reader to stay up on all the blogs I read. If they ever start charging for this service like Hotmail once did, I will be toast but currently, in my opinion, it is the best free service on the web.

Thursday, 27 November 2008

As I have mentioned before not only am I an avid reader I am an avid writer. I am currently on volume 35 of hard back journals. I use the Blueline A19 series 192 pages each they are 9 1/4 " X 7 1/3" or 235mm X 184mm. I have varied the color but green is dominant. Recently I went back through looking for my Myers Briggs results and found it in the 3rd one I pulled from the shelf. While doing that search I found a number of short book reviews that I wrote back in the spring and summer of 1999 while doing a children's literature course at the University of Waterloo. Now when journaling I write a 1 page summary of each book I read. However often it is more how the book affected me and what changes or observations I have discovered about my self from the books digestion. So I have decided to pull this collection out and clean them up a little and post them here. Some of these were favorite books when I read them but I was not reviewing formally then so this is a way to promote those books but not sacrifice the time to go back and reread them. Therefore over the next few months you will see posts every few days of some of my earliest reviews.

(Note yes I stole the title of this post from Eric Scheske who has been running a series of posts pulled from old journals.)

Monday, 24 November 2008

The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people need. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of.They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living.AnalysisThis show what parts of the brain that were dominant during writing.

ISTP - The Mechanics

ISTP (for my website.)

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

I do not remember the last time I did the Myers Briggs test but I do recall one category split almost 50/50 and one had a 99/1% split. I will have to look it up and see if I can find it. I went back and here are my results from the last time I did this in April of 99

E - 60% / I - 55%S 75% / N55% T 55% / F50% J 55% / P25%

So test as E/I S T/F J. It only took my 3rd journal out of 35 to find it. Which is funny based on these results making my writing in both categories a P. I know this will just show how precise I am I did some testing and it only check the title page, so I tested each month of my archive and got:

Sunday, 23 November 2008

The Catholic Company has more new stuff on the go. Now they are promoting their Joint venture the Knights of Columbus Book of the Month Club if you join you will receive the monthly offering at a 20% discount. Each month members will have the opportunity to join Supreme Knight Carl Anderson reading insightful, informative and faith-filled books and have the option to participating in an online discussion about that month's book. The discussion at the end of each month is led by Mr. Anderson and his guest's - authors and authorities on the subject of the book that month.

If you join before the 10th of a month you will receive that months book if not you will receive the next months book. There is even an online archive of old discussions.

This looks like a great tool to help you grow your faith. So Drop by and check it out.

Friday, 21 November 2008

This is a prereview( my final review is here). That is, it is a review before a book comes out or even before I have read it. You might be asking how can I do that? There are two ways. First I have read 7 of the 9 books by the author and they are all excellent. Second this book is a brand new form of art. This book is not just a book, it is a book linked to a series of sites and interactive media. The media has started now and is available at skeletoncreekisreal.com. The book comes out early next year. The concept is that as you read the book you will be given codes to specific websites.

Now some might say that books linked to websites are nothing new, especially, John Twelve Hawks' fourth realm trilogy, starting with The Traveler. Or The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins which has supporting fan sites. But that is completely different; that book only hid sites that were created for organizations in the book. In this case the Skeleton Creek sites are designed as part of the book. It is created as an alternate reality experience in which someone has discovered hidden secret files on a website (you can do it also if you follow the instructions in video #2). Those hidden files lead the narrator to believe that the Skeleton Creek story is based on real world events. And apparently there is no end of depth to these interactive sites. The narrator will never break character, so it feels very possible that everything he's saying could be true. Stay with it and pretty soon his own story will spin way out of control.Author Patrick Carman states: "Now the fun part....there are clues to what's going on hidden in the videos, the file folders, on websites you'll find access to, even wikipedia sites. If you follow along you'll know about certain events almost no one else will be aware of. For example, if you pay attention, you'll be at the right place and the right time for live, once-only web casts of me giving additional information - and you might even get a chance to meet me in person or discover a hidden book in your area." The concept for this book is just so cool. How can it not be a great hit?

This book will be fantastic so check out the websites and get the book when it comes out. It is geared for the net generation, and the mixed media format will attract students, and students of all ages. As you read the book you get codes to watch the video's. The two combined tell the ghost story and should almost make it seem real.Other Supporting Websites:

Signs and Mysteries-Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols by Mike Aquilina and Lea Marie Ravotti is a great new book. It examines the signs and symbols of the Christian tradition from three perspectives - the historical archeological perspective, a theological perspective and from the view of what they can mean to us today. The book is written for the casual student of church history to the most devoted practitioner of the Catholic faith and the full range in between. The book is fantastically illustrated so that the images will have an original feel rather than look like photos from an art history book.This book will cover a great breadth. The chapters of the book are:

The BackgroundThe FishThe OrantThe ShepherdThe VineThe PhilosopherThe PhoenixThe DolphinThe PeacockMilkThe LampMosesThe PlowVesselsThe LambThe DoveBread and SheavesThe CrownThe BanquetThe LighthouseThe AnkhThe CrossThe AnchorShips and BoatsThe Labarum (Chi-Rho)Alpha and OmegaThrough the process of examining these symbols, a believer will encounter deeper meaning in elements of the tradition with which they are already familiar and will encounter new symbols that can bring deeper meaning into their faith and worship life. The book can even be used for a series of meditations as you read about each sign, learn about it, meditate upon its meaning and how it can impact your faith. What does the peacock (usually associated with pride or vanity) have to do with Catholicism? What does the Ankh, usually a Goth symbol of death, mean to early Christians and what can it mean to us? Many of these signs have corrupted or perverted representations in general culture. Now we can reclaim these items and when we see them misused know their true meaning (and maybe use it as a tool to pray for those people.)

This book is an excellent addition to Catholic History and to your faith life. Pick it up and explore new elements of tradition, history and practical faith.

Sunday, 9 November 2008

This book is both written and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. This is a fantastic story of a young bibliophile named Kenny. Kenny has always felt a little on the outside - he loves books, and his pursuit of knowledge is almost relentless. At school when he has to do presentations the other students become bored and have even fallen asleep. Then his life changes drastically for his father finds a dragon in his pastures on their farm property. Kenny goes to investigate.

Kenny's only close friend in town is a retiree named George who owns a bookshop in town. It was from George's shop that he has borrowed a book called The King's Royal Bestiary. This book had a section on dragons so Kenny took it with him when he went to investigate the dragon his father found. The dragon was not at all what he expected. First the dragon's name is Grahame, and Grahame loves books, poetry music and dessert.Kenny wants George and Grahame to meet but something gets in the way. The town finds out about the dragon, and The King has commissioned his champion to kill the beast. Kenny must find a way to save his friend.

This is a great adventure. Kenny is a smart young boy who loves books. He also loves adventure and he faces a battle. DiTerlizzi has created a wonderful story. It would be nice to meet Kenny again in further adventures.

Tuesday, 4 November 2008

I have been playing with different designs. Some of the followers of my blog will have noticed that it has gone through a few style changes lately. These pictures at the left are the history of the appearance. It started with a standard a variation of 'Rounders 2' by Douglas Bowman that I had modified a few years back to have the sidebar on the left and not the right.

Then I decided to do away with the rounded edges and clear out the blogroll, sidebar buttons and other thinks to simplify the design and layout.After that I Put my family tartan in the background did some more hacking to create a dropdown menu for the archive, for after 3 years it was over 36 entries and a long list.

Sunday, 2 November 2008

Patrick Carman created these stories for his daughter while visiting the real Pioneer Park in Walla Walla, Washington. This first book in the wonderful world of Elliot's Park, is about a great adventure for the squirrels of Elliot's Park. The vast cast of characters including: Elliot the book worm with glasses who loves collared shirts, wide ties and solving problems, Mister Nibbles who is a most unusual squirrel who is introduced in the adventure, Roscoe and Coconut the two dog's from the yellow house across the street who love to chase Elliot and his friends, Scratchy Spurs a former rodeo star squirrel with a cowboy hat, spurs and a stick cane, and Sparkle the stargazer who often gets into trouble with the Owls, and many many others. The book has a cast of characters in the back of the key players from the whole series.In this story the squirrel's of Elliot's Park, are amazed and incensed when a child receives a squirrel as a present at a birthday party held in the park. Elliot and his friends decide that this squirrel must be liberated. So they have Crash the only flying squirrel in the park follow when the party pack's up. They discover that Mr. Nibbles has been taken to the yellow house across the street. The home of Roscoe and Coconut two ferocious squirrel chasing dogs. Elliot can not think of a way to save Mr. Nibbles, so he visits his friend Scratchy, and comes up with a plan. But can the squirrels of Elliot's Park, leave the park and rescue Mr. Nibbles. Read this story and find out!

These books will captivate children of all ages from 5 to 105. I even read it to my two year old and she stayed captivated by the story. The artwork by Jim Madsen is excellent, and children will love his representations of the adventures of the squirrell's. And as an added bonus there are exercises at the end of the book, to create fun for a family or class. In this book they include:o Elliot and Chip's Trail Mix (GORP)o Create Your Own Elliot's Park Adventureo Sparkle's Starry NightThe book concludes with a preview chapter of the next book The Haunted Hike. Pick up this book by award winning author Patrick Carman for he has created a wonderful world for young readers and for the whole family in these books.Other of Patrick Carman Books: